Continuing the tailpiece centering discussion.

[pierreyves]

tkotmk42, your bass soud best with e centered tailpiece ?

[kmh364]

I think both the neck and body blanks are roughed using a CNC machine as well. Then they must be shaped by hand. The hand shaping and the nature of laminated neck construction are the main cause of the slight misalignment between lams and hardware. Logically, CNC-cut bridges and tailpieces are NOT assymetrical per se (assuming the program is correct). Bottom line is that the nut, fingerboard, bridge and tailpiece are in as perfect of an alignment as they can be so as to keep the strings parallel to the fingerboard. I think Alembic achieves this in a fanatical way.
 
Just think how you'd feel if your $6k Custom Shop Gibson had it's bridge and tailpiece misaligned with your fingerboard. While there's no visible neck lams to reference the bridge tailpiece to, the misalignment exists. Luckily, it's so slight that playability is not affected. Now THATS an an example of sloppy craftmanship that's unexcusable at this price level. Personally, I'd feel pretty sh*tty if this happened to me...ask me how I'd know, LOL!
 
FWIW, the tailpiece on my Series I std. point has the same issue as Charles, Shim and Pierre-Yves. While it is a cosmetic/aesthetic issue, the strings are in perfect alignment and you'd be hard pressed to find a better playing (or sounding, for that matter)instrument.  
 
Mica's statements above are, IMHO, 100% correct.

[bkbass]

kmh364 call me,I've got to do a side by side comparision of the electronics. One day after work? Actually, we could also compare series 2,1 and signature for the sake of information. If you come up by me. I could also show you my entire collection of seemingly evenly spaced tailpieces. Who cares! The basses are the best there is out there. Every builder gets behind Alembic. IMHO they are the top of the mountain. It must be hard for Mica and crew to suddenly have to get this caught up in such a trite point when they could be doing so many other important things like taking more photos or answering techincal questions. As my previous thread mentioned this is an established construction method that has been worldwide accepted for over thirty years now. If it turns out that Stanley or King have crooked tailpieces how many members would put their hands in their pockets and walk away whistling? C'mon people let it go. I guess we will all just have to move around more when we play so no one will notice.lol!

[cozmik_cowboy]

Well, Barry, that inspired me to go over to the COTM archive and take a look at Dragon's Breath - sure enough, it's a tad off-center.  So, if it's good enough for Stanley........
 
Peter

[ajdover]

I can verify that Alembic does indeed shape their instruments by hand - I've seen their employees doing it in person.  They make their own sanding blocks, for example, which are designed to fit the hand of the craftsman using it.  They also are built like accordions - they fit the contours of the instrument being carved/sanded.  
 
When they say handmade, sure, it's not one hundred percent handmade in the sense that they use machines to do certain things (e.g., the CNC machine, a fretboard cutting machine, etc.).  However, they are carved and sanded by hand, and they are finished, fretted, and set up by hand.  Their electronics are handmade (with the exception of the pickups which are wound using a machine designed and built by Ron Wickersham himself), and their preamps and superfilters handwired (I watched Mr. Stouffer doing this).  Again, something I saw first hand, and a thing of beauty it was (and is).
 
Perfection, IMHO, cannot be attained.  It can only be striven for.  If you achieve perfection, you have nowhere to go but down.  This being said, what makes an Alembic the finest instrument on the planet IMHO is the relentless pursuit of perfection.  This is no different than the chef who pursues the perfect dish, or the plumber the perfect faucet installation, or the woodworker the perfect chair.  It is a never ending quest for the best that one can possibly make something, and again, I witnessed this first hand during my visit to Santa Rosa.
 
Finally, I don't care if the tailpiece doesn't line up symmetrically.  The tailpiece police aren't going to arrest me.  The sound and playability police might if my bass sounds and plays like crap, and no Alembic I've owned before or since does.  As far as I'm concerned, I'd rather have something play and sound good rather than have an unplayable and &%^tty sounding instrument, regardless of cost.
 
I currently own 6 Alembic basses, with number 7 on the way.  They are, to me, the finest bass guitar I've played in the 30 years I've played the instrument, period.  Nothing else comes close in terms of quality, craftsmanship, and excellence.  I have many basses that I love for different reasons, but nothing can touch an Alembic IMHO.
 
My two cents,
 
Alan

[terryc]

by the way I checked my MK standard, it is offcentre..do I care..not one bit
Just play the thing!!!

[paulman]

Dang, this is quite a thread!  
 
I must add that my Skylark's tailpeice is centered, but slightly skewed to the treble side.  
 
When I was evaluating the 2 Furthers to choose, I chose the one that had the tailpiece farther away from the bridge as the other one was so close the strings were rubbing (and bent) over the bridge.   However the bridge on the Further I selected does appear to be centered, and these are the greatest guitars I have ever played so foo on where the tailpiece is at this point!  

[bigredbass]

HEY . . . the locating screws on the machine heads on my BigRedBass are not rotated the same number of degrees ! ! ! !  Same thing on the screws on the back plate, sheeesshhhh ! ! !  
 
You just wait till I get em on the phone!  
 
J o e y

[lbpesq]

The eyes on the Birds' Eye Maple top on my Electrum aren't symmetrical.  
 
And, CAN YOU BELIEVE THIS, the E string on the left side of my Series I guitar is MUCH THICKER than the E string on the right side of my guitar.  And, (this is downright eerie, but I swear it's true), virtually ALL of my guitars have this SAME PROBLEM!  UNBELIEVABLE!  
 
Not only that, but when my guitar is in tune the tuning machines DO NOT LINE UP EXACTLY!!!!!
 
Somebody call Rod Serling.
 
Bill, tgo

[Bradley Young]

So,
 
I talked to Mica, and we're going to do a custom tailpiece.  And it is going to look positively, fully sick, I promise.
 
It probably won't be centered, but it won't matter, since it won't be visually obvious.
 
Bradley

[terryc]

to Ibpesq- you know know I have the same problem on my bass, they all say bass players are failed guitarists and only play one note at a time well that is where I have gone wrong!! I think I will put all the same thickness strings on my MK standard then it will look symetrical..so should it be all the thick ones, the next thick one, the next thick one or the thinnest!!!
And horror of horrors those knob things are all work different too..where do you start to make everything the same!!!
Such a dilemma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  LOL

[paulman]

This would drive Monk nuts!

[terryc]

And to top it all..it is all made of different pieces of wood!!!!!!!

[flaxattack]

for what its worth
tailpiece is off center slightly on direwolf
i could care less......

[lbpesq]

I've always wondered about that phrase.  Should it be I could care less or I couldn't care less?  Both seem to be acceptable!
 
Bill, tgo